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Now to continue the story:

“Seracadia as you can imagine is perfect”, Merlin said. “It never rains, the gardens are lush and beautiful, the nights are warm and gentle, and happiness is just a way of life.”  “Wow, it sounds wonderful”, Anisa chimed in, “I wish so bad to go there and be among my own kind.”  “Ahh, now don’t be hasty my child.”  “Seracadia is wonderful but it is missing something, something that this mortal realm seems to have.”  “What could that possible be?”, Anisa wanted to know.  “Intensity, stimulation, energy”, said the old wizard.  “Perfection comes at a price, boredom.”  “We have become bored and lazy in Seracadia.”  “We need the turmoil, the problems, the imperfection that this mortal realm has to offer.”  “Well, does that mean you are all coming back”, Anisa asked.  “Well, I never force anyone to do anything that they don’t wish but if things are as they seem, I will suggest to the others that indeed, they should come back”, Merlin answered.  The family was so happy, finally they would see their old friends and their own kind again.   But what did that mean for this mortal world, how would they handle it?  “Merlin, how will it be in this world when all the magical creatures come back”, Anisa asked what was the question on everyone’s mind.  “That child even I the greatest magician to ever live cannot answer.”  “Mortals are unpredictable and try as I might I cannot even see what the future holds for us here.”  “I can only see that at this time, things seem to be right for our return.”  “Now who would like to show me around.”  “Oh Merlin, may I”, asked Anisa.  “It would be a honor for me if you would my child.”  So Merlin arose, his tall, imposing figure illuminating the darkening twilight skies.  “I first must make myself unknown to this world.”  With a wave of his wand, Merlin changed from the glowing white figure to the figure of an old man dressed in gray with hair and beard to match.  “Wow, no one would recognize you now, Merlin”, Anisa exclaimed.  “So, are you ready, my child.”  “Oh yes, but where should we start.”  “Lets go to the center the center of town and see what we shall see.”  Anisa grabbed her cloak and off the two went toward the center of Breda to see what they would see.  Merlin saw the magical lights that lit all the houses and streets, he saw the machines that moved without horses that transported the mortal around.  He heard all the unusual and strange noises of machines and other things that hadn’t been around at the time when the magical creatures left.  He smelled the strange smoke in the air and crinkled up his nose.  “Mortals do know one thing”, Merlin said with a sneer, “that is how to destroy things.”  “Yes, there has been a lot of problems with the air and water and land because of all the inventions of the mortals”, Anisa agreed.  The two continued to walk and talk about all that Anisa had learned and what see wanted achieve with her power.  Merlin was very impressed with what he saw and heard, he knew that even among the magical creatures, this child was something very special.  He decided right there and then that he would have to take her under his wing and guide her to her destiny as ruler over all the magical creatures.  Soon the two came to the center of town.  It was there that it happened.  Two nasty looking young men came up to them.  “Hey old man, what are you doing here”, the ill looking men asked.  “Why me and my granddaughter are just out for a stroll”, Merlin answered them.  “Why don’t you just leave us alone”, Anisa shouted at the two.  “We will when we get what we deserve”, the two laughed as they said this.  “And what do you think you deserve”, Merlin asked.  “Well you can start by giving us your money, old man.”  “But I don’t have any”, Merlin answered, “I don’t ever need it.”  “What are you talking about, old man, everyone needs money.”  “Well if you don’t give it to us, we’ll just take it.”  With these words, the taller of the pair reached behind his back and pointed a pistol at Merlin.  Anisa gasped but Merlin only laughed.  “What do you think that will do”, Merlin asked.  “It’ll make you give us what we want”, the man said.  “Mortals will never learn”, Merlin said some magical words under his breath and suddenly the pistol melted and went limp in the mans hand.  “What the ….”, the man exclaimed.  The two looked at Merlin and didn’t know what to do.  “You’re lucky this time”, one of them said, “but we will find out who you are and then we will be back.”  With that the two ran off into the night still trying to figure out what had happened.  “It’s not always like this”, Anisa said.  “I know my child, it has gotten bad but not any worse then what it has been it ancient history.”  “That is another reason why we need to come back, we need to help the mortals to learn to live in peace and harmony as best they can.”  “I would love to help with that”, Anisa said.  “And you shall, my child, and you shall.”   

That is all for now, return again for the continuing story “In the Land Between Light and Dark”.

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     Many years ago, there roamed on this earth many mystical and magical beings.  Some say they never existed but they did and they still do.  Most went to the land between light and dark when it was clear that mortals and immortals could no longer co-exist.  It was a dark time in history when man was threatened by what it did not know and could not understand.  These magical beings were hunted, killed or banished from earthly places.  Merlin, the great wizard knew that if they were to stay, they would likely be exterminated completely.  You see these beings meant no harm and had no intention of hurting man.  They only wanted to peacefully live among the humans but that was not to be.  Merlin found a way for the magical creatures to transport to Seracadia, the land between light and dark, a place mortals would never find.  Most, reluctantly agreed to follow Merlin but not all.  Some stayed and hid their true identities and continued to live among the mortals.  This is a story of such a young lady, or should I say Fairy.  Her name was Anisa and she was born to two immortals, Grimorium, a dark vampire and Shannonia, a fairy witch.  Grimorium and Shannonia had decided to live among people, hiding their magical powers and raising their family among them.  For many years, they did this until so much time had passed that they had forgotten the magic that could take them to Seracadia.  So for hundreds of years they lived happily together working and loving among the mortals.  Grimorium found many jobs building things with his hands and Shannonia, true to her magical ways ran a small magical store called Sacred Enchantments.  Then one day, their dream to have a child came true and Anisa was magically brought into the world.  It was obvious from the start that Anisa was a special child, not like the mortal children she lived around.  First she was the most beauiful child in all the world.  She had eyes as blue and as deep as the darkest sapphires, her skin as smooth and flawless as the most succulant vanilla cream, her hair a radiant golden brown and when the light shone on it, it glistened as gold.  She had a smile and a laugh that made everyone else smile and laugh even when they were having the worst day ever.  Oh yes, she was magical.  Her parents taught her all about the ways of magic and of Seracadia.  She longed to go there to meet all the other magical creatures and knew one day she would find a way.  Many a day she would research and ponder all the magic she could find to locate the opening to Seracadia.  She watched and waited to see if Merlin would return as he said he would when the time came that mortals and immortals might live together again in harmony.  Things had changed on earth and magical creatures were no longer feared or hunted, in fact most people didn’t even believe in their existance any longer.  The mortals had forgotten the past and now believed that all the old stories of dragons, wizards, fairies, witches, unicorns, vampires and the like were all fable and myth.  But Anisa and her family knew better.  They knew that many of their kind still roamed the earth as they did, and many others were in Seracadia awaiting to return to the mortal world.  It was on a day such as today, nothing special just an ordinary day when it happened.  Anisa had been enjoying the beautiful sunny day in her garden, reading about magic and spells when a sudden and incredible feeling came over her.  She had never felt anything like it and knew that it meant something special.  She got up and looked around, at first everything seemed the same but then she saw him.  A tall, imposing figure, all shining and white.  At first, she thought it might be a ghost but slowing the illuminating light started to fade and she saw an old man with long white hair and a long white beard, dressed in white robes standing before her.  She gasped and caught her breath as she had never before seen such an amazing creature.  “Who are you?’ she was able to stutter.  “Why child, I am Merlin the greatest wizard who has ever lived”, said the old man.  “Don’t you recognize me, didn’t your parents tell you of me?”  “Of course they did”, she said, “but I wasn’t expecting you, at least not right at this moment.”  “No one ever knows when I may come”, he said.  “Why are you here, I mean now, is there anything wrong.”  “No my child, nothing is wrong.  I said I would return when it was safe and now seems like the time.”  “Are the others coming from Seracadia, too?”  “Not just yet, I must be certain that the time is right.”  As Merlin said this, he cautiously looked around and took in his surroundings.  “Ahh, I have missed this place so much but much seems to have changed since my last visit to the mortal realm.”  “Merlin, so much has changed, humans have learned to do much and in some ways they too have developed their own sort of magic.”  “I know my child, I have been watching them and helping them where I could to provide them with peace, harmony and knowledge.  Of course they never see me or even know I am there but I am helping them all the same.”  “Oh, Merlin, you must tell me what Seracadia is like.  I have been wanting to go for sometime but my parents forgot how to get there.”  “I thought that may be the case but I could not help them as it was their decision to stay and in that I could not interfer.  But you wanted to know about Seracadia?”  “Oh yes, very much so, can you tell me.”  “Well why don’t we sit a bit, have some tea and I will tell you all you wish to know.”  As Merlin sat down in the large garden chair, Anisa went inside to get the tea and biscuits.  She was so excited and joyful that now she finally was to learn all the secrets and desires she had longed for many years.  As she entered the small but comfortable cottage she called home, she called for her mother and father to come meet the kind stranger that had come for tea.  Grimorium and Shannonia could hardly believe their eyes when they saw their old friend.  They laughed and hugged and even cried as it had been so long and their hopes of seeing him again had vanished many years before.  They too wanted to know of Seracadia and what had become of all their old friends and family.  So Merlin after taking a long sip from his tea, sat back in his chair, took a long puff on his pipe, twirling his long beard, blew out a perfect smoke ring and began his story. 

(I hope you are enjoying the story thus far, I will continue it later, must leave you wanting more after all.  Please let me know what you think.  Also you can visit the store in the story, Sacred Enchantments, on the internet at http://www.sacredenchantments.co.uk.  It is devoted to all things spiritual, magical, wiccan, pagan, celtic, gothic, occultic and new age. Thanks for reading.)

Many people have asked me what it is like for an American to live in Holland so I decided to write about it.  It is different but not so different.  People are people after all and no matter where you go, there are good people and there are bad people.  So far, things have gone well but there are some adjustments for me.  First everything is much smaller here.  I am used to American, supersized everything.  Here the homes are smaller and you have to get used to making good use to every inch of space.  The bedrooms do not have closets which is really strange for me.  If you need a closet, you buy one like a stand alone wardrobe.  We have two bathrooms, a powder room downstairs and a regular bathroom with just a shower upstairs.  I do miss my bathtub!  Now the powder room downstairs is so small, it is similar to the bathroom on an airplane but it has the essentials, a toilet and a sink.  One nice thing is there is a lot less to clean! 

Another difference is how close everything is and how many people ride scooters or bicycles to work.  Americans tend to only ride bikes as recreation not as transportation.  I have a bike and it gets me everywhere I need to be.  Everything is so close, I could walk everywhere and often do.  Most cars are much smaller as well though I do see the occassional SUV!

Now the best part of living in Europe is the food.  Americans don’t know what they are missing.  The food is so much better here!  The whole grain breads and cereal, the pastries, the sate and the garlic sauce.  Oh my!  It is funny there are American companies selling food here that they don’t even sell in America and it is 100% better.  I am not sure what that is all about.  Americans do know pizza and hamburgers better though.  The strangest thing that I have eaten here is horse steak.  It is eaten all the time here but I don’t know anyone in America that eats horse meat.  I cannot say I like it to much but it’s not terrible. 

The landscape here is absolutely beautiful, the gardens and the architecture is amazing.  To imagine they have homes here that are 100′s of years older then any in America.  To see brick and cobblestone roads is really cool, riding on them isn’t though. 

TV is different too.  Yes they have American shows but many are years old.  They don’t seem to have as much as we do in America but what they have is okay.  I am not much of a TV watcher so it doesn’t really bother me. 

As far as the language, most people here speak pretty good english so in that regards they are ahead of Americans who usually only speak one language.  Children here are taught english at a young age as well as dutch and many learn french, german and spanish.  I am trying to learn dutch but the pronunciation of words is difficult for me.  I am not doing bad though. 

All in all I really enjoy it here and have made several new friends.  I have also started my own online web store, Sacred Enhcantments (http://www.sacredenchantments.co.uk) which is a spiritual store dedicated to many spiritual paths such as buddhism, hindu, wiccan, pagan, occultic, celtic, gothic and new age.  We have items such as charms, meditation kits, reiki, chakras, jewelry, candles, books, cd’s, dvd’s, crystals, gemstones, altar supplies, angels, ouija boards, herbs, and much more.  I hope you get a chance to check it out.  thanks for reading and take care

You can visit Sacred Enchantments at http://www.sacredenchantments.co.uk.  What is Sacred Enchantments?  It is an online store dedicated to those who are spiritual, wholelistic, and are looking to express their unique beliefs, lifestyle, and personal tastes.  Are you wiccan, pagan, celtic, occultic, new age,  satanic, chrisitian, buddhist, hindu, wholelistic, metaphysical?  Do you like crystals, reiki, tarot cards, magic, spells, charms, jewelry, self improvement, herbs, wholelistic healing or therapy?  Are you into vampires, dragons, demons, angels, eygptian, buddha, or hindu?  Do you practice or want to learn meditation, spell casting, tarot, feng shui, or wholelistic healing?  If any of this is true or you are just curious, enjoy the occult, or like unique and unusual things then you should visit Sacred Enchantments today.  Take care and blessed be. http://www.sacredenchantments.co.uk